Ibadan-Kano standard guage railway to commence next year

With Lagos-Ibadan railway project in its final lap of completion, the Federal Government has pledged to commence construction of the Ibadan-Kano railway project by April 2020.

The Federal Government recently awarded the construction of the $3.5billion Ibadan-Kano standard Guage to the China Railway Cooperation Company (CRCC)  but the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi said the contract was yet to be approved by the Federal Executive Council, but he is hopeful the contract would be approved before the end of the first quarter of next year. 

Amaechi, during his monthly inspection of the ongoing construction of the Lagos-Ibadan railway, said he would pressurise the CRCC to ensure they deliver on the project on or before 2023.

He said: “The Lagos – Ibadan would be ready by next year but we will not allow this type of speed on Ibadan to Kano standard Guage rail because if we allow this kind of speed by 2023 they will not have finished and after a few more months another government r will come in and say he did the work whereas I have been suffering, running up and down to ensure we complete the work. “

He, however, expressed dissatisfaction with pace of work at the Lagos-Ibadan railway. He said: “They said they have a time line, which is for the minor stations to be ready by February, and major stations would be ready by April, which means you can commission by April or you force them to speed up and that would before February.”